Rare monkeys and beautiful polar bear cubs captured by photo award winners

With its fur blowing in the wind, this lion is seen staring off into the distance in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Captured by Italian photographer Paolo Ameli, recipient of the ‘Merit’ award

This green-hued shot shows a red-eyed tree frog in a forest in Costa Rica’s La Fortuna region. Photographer Pablo Trilles Farrington – who received the ‘Merit’ award – describes the creature as ‘hypnotic’, noting that its distinguishing features are its red eyes and the blue stripe that colors its flanks. He notes that although these frogs are usually nocturnal, ‘this photo was taken during the day when the frog was looking for a better place to rest’

In this stunning shot, a group of camels walk through a storm near the town of Merzouga, in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. Photographer Olivier Unia, who received the ‘Merit’ award, describes the place as ‘a gift from nature’.

This magnificent picture shows a group of gelada monkeys – known as bleeding-heart monkeys – in Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains. Award-winning photographer Turgay Uzer says: ‘To protect themselves from tigers, they spend the night on the small cliffs of the mountains and come up to the plateau at dawn to eat.

This magical shot of gelada monkeys silhouetted in the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia is the work of Turgay Uzer.

A small polar bear cub walks with a fountain in this touching picture by Turgay Uzer, titled: ‘I have Things to Do and People to See.’ It was captured in the Norwegian port of Svalbard

Zambia’s Luangwa National Park was the scene of the dramatic shoot, which showed ‘a small tiger looking at its hanged kill’ – meaning the kill was dragged from a tree to prevent other predators from reaching it. It is the work of Turgay Uzer’s hands

A lion in Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park is the subject of this well-titled portrait by ‘Merit’ award winner Turgay Uzer.

This transfixing shot of a nocturnal monkey in Panama’s Parque Nacional Soberania was captured by Turgay Uzer. Describing this creature, he says: ‘It weighs less than one kilogram, has the biggest eyes in nature and the fingers of a piano player!’ Uzer added: ‘Sadly [night monkey] endangered in Panama due to deforestation, capture in the pet trade and poaching.

Turgay Uzer captured this amazing shot of an elephant eating leaves from mango trees in Zimbabwe’s Mana Pools National Park.

Although they appear to be enemies, the jaguars in this powerful shot are riding each other, photographer Turgay Uzer reveals. He explains: ‘Mating between the big cats starts with courtship, progresses violently and ends in violence and violence. And it can go on like that for days.’ Photo taken at Parque Estadual Encontro das Aguas in Brazil

A crocodile enjoys a swim in the Mara River in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve in this year’s shot by Turgay Uzer, titled ‘Dinner Time’

This photo of a tiger cub eating a killed impala in Zambia’s Luangwa National Park is the work of Turgay Uzer. It says: ‘We may be the first people to see this calf. The mother left after dragging the heavy impala through the bush. It knew us and yet it continued to feed us’

US photographer Jo Fields captured this harmless rat snake on the branch. ‘A lot of people who were walking were terrified and kept walking,’ says Fields, adding that the snake had just gotten out of trouble. Fields takes ‘Merit’ award

This stunning shot shows lenticular clouds over Torres del Paine National Park in the Patagonia region of Chile. Photographer Carmen Villar, recipient of the ‘Merit’ award, says: ‘Before sunrise, the color of the clouds was spectacular’.

This photo was taken by winner Thomas Vijayan. It features a curious-looking golden-headed langur, an endangered species of monkey that lives on Vietnam’s Cat Ba Island. There are less than 70 golden heads left, the photographer reveals, adding that the species was almost extinct two decades ago, due to hunting for medicine and hunting for sport. Their body length is 20 inches (50cm) and then their tails stretch another three meters (one meter), he said.

Check out another impressive photo captured by winner Vijayan, this time featuring an orangutan in Tanjung Puting National Park, Borneo.